The subject says it all. After reading a post by Jester in another thread, I'm curious to hear what everyone has to say on this subject. My group is usually pretty laid back and the intensity never quite reaches the level of some of the situations that I've read about. So, if you'd be so kind, INSPIRE me with your tales of glorious deeds, greater sacrifices and romantic intrigues.
What are your most intense rp'ing moments?
- Thread starter mseds99
- Start date
Furn_Darkside
First Post
Salutations,
Both involve the same set of characters
PC: Haroun (I played him from 1st to 20th lvl, ahh.)
NPC: Hanzala
Scene 1-
The two had been married and their first child had been born.
She had wanted him to stop adventuring, but he could not turn down people asking him for help.. and trouble had a big knack for finding him. (Especially his genie double- a cursed genie forced to look like haroun.. who had to deal with haroun's cast of enemies hunting him as well.)
After defeating stopping a mob/army of efreet from destroying their home city- she decided to leave Haroun to protect their son. She knew that danger would follow Haroun and their child would never be safe as long as they were together.
Scene 2- Years later
Haroun married a few other women (Al Qadim- polygomy is ok), but always loved Hanzala more then anything. She married again as well (though to a psycho he nearly died defeating).
They finally came into each other's life once more, but she had been cursed by a wise-woman she accidently killed. If she ever kissed the man she loved, they would both die instantly.
Even though she had been cursed, they decided to marry again and be together once more.
At the wedding, the genie double attacked- killing one of Haroun's other wives and kidnapping Hanzala.
Haroun was able to track him down alone in the middle of a volcano on the verge of erupting. They had this big duel on the standard rock bridge over the lava pit.
Haroun was out-matched, but with hanzala's help- he was able to lasso a rope around one foot of the double. The other was tied to a folding boat.
As they attempted to escape- the volcano began to erupt around them. They realized they were about to die anyway- so they kissed.
Fate twisted the curse- and had their souls become one so they would never be seperated in the afterlife.
FD
Both involve the same set of characters
PC: Haroun (I played him from 1st to 20th lvl, ahh.)
NPC: Hanzala
Scene 1-
The two had been married and their first child had been born.
She had wanted him to stop adventuring, but he could not turn down people asking him for help.. and trouble had a big knack for finding him. (Especially his genie double- a cursed genie forced to look like haroun.. who had to deal with haroun's cast of enemies hunting him as well.)
After defeating stopping a mob/army of efreet from destroying their home city- she decided to leave Haroun to protect their son. She knew that danger would follow Haroun and their child would never be safe as long as they were together.
Scene 2- Years later
Haroun married a few other women (Al Qadim- polygomy is ok), but always loved Hanzala more then anything. She married again as well (though to a psycho he nearly died defeating).
They finally came into each other's life once more, but she had been cursed by a wise-woman she accidently killed. If she ever kissed the man she loved, they would both die instantly.
Even though she had been cursed, they decided to marry again and be together once more.
At the wedding, the genie double attacked- killing one of Haroun's other wives and kidnapping Hanzala.
Haroun was able to track him down alone in the middle of a volcano on the verge of erupting. They had this big duel on the standard rock bridge over the lava pit.
Haroun was out-matched, but with hanzala's help- he was able to lasso a rope around one foot of the double. The other was tied to a folding boat.
As they attempted to escape- the volcano began to erupt around them. They realized they were about to die anyway- so they kissed.
Fate twisted the curse- and had their souls become one so they would never be seperated in the afterlife.
FD
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Okay, can't resist. Here's the story -- the final episode of Season Two of Barsoom.
The scene: The ruins of Zuyang. The devastated city has been consumed by a sorcerous hurricane for the past century, and unending cyclone of not only wind and dust, but tortured souls who cry out for redemption and release, driving unfortunates who are caught within their domain mad with grief and frenzy.
At the center of this dust-choked and rubble-strewn maze, the First Sanctuary of the Blood Council is an eerie place of calm and green things growing. Here is where the last Blood Mother of the Council was murdered by the Demon Goddess, her soul fragmented and cast out into the world by the evil sorcerer Matai Shang. Since that day, the Blood Council has lost all direction and is prey to a thousand inimical forces, unable to fulfill its mission of bringing order and peace to the world.
Unless someone can restore the soul of the Blood Mother and allow her knowledge to pass on to her successor, the Blood Council and all Barsoom can never be brought out of the dark times.
Our heroes have gotten involved in this dire history over the past year. One of the PCs turns out to have a fragment of the Blood Mother's soul attached to his own (soul fragments unable to pass on, cling to living souls -- didn't know that, did you?). Matai Shang has discovered this and pursues them. Their only protector is the Demon Goddess herself -- a terrible vampire sorceress deity who's interest in the party is certainly less than 100% altruistic.
The Demon Goddess claims that she was under the domination of Matai Shang when she killed the Blood Mother, and now wishes to restore the woman's soul. The party must seek out and assemble all the soul fragments so that the Demon Goddess can then perform the ritual required to restore the Blood Mother. Members of the Blood Council, of course terrified of the Demon Goddess these days, must also be present in order to accept the knowledge and wisdom of their long-dead leader.
And Matai Shang has discovered some weakness of the Demon Goddess and will doubtless turn up to prevent the restoration from taking place.
One of the PCs has already died in the attempt to reach the Sanctuary, and it has been revealed that another has fallen desperately in love with the Demon Goddess. The group's loyalties and relationships are in a shambles, everyone is angry with everyone else and now comes the final showdown.
The Demon Goddess draws forth the soul fragments from the assembled folks who possessed them and performs the needed sorcery to reassemble them. The Blood Mother appears, smiling at her ancient foe/friend. She says she understands that the Demon Goddess acted under compulsion. She says she forgives her.
She says she's now going to destroy the Demon Goddess once and for all. Matai Shang appears as the Blood Mother's long-time ally. It turns out the WHOLE THING has been a plot to destroy the Demon Goddess, to get her to cast the spell that would tie her soul to that of the Blood Mother. Now the Blood Mother can attempt to take the Demon Goddess' soul with her across the Shadow Realms into the afterlife. Matai Shang is there in case the Demon Goddess doesn't want to go quietly.
And she doesn't, and the party get involved on BOTH sides and it is uglier than I could have imagined. Shang gets killed, the Demon Goddess becomes a mortal woman (and loses about 40 levels in the process), the entire Blood Council top drawer gets wiped out (by the party, mostly), huge spells and explosions and charging about and last-minute death-defying efforts on all sides.
It's hard to convey the emotional impact of it all. We were all just devastated at the end of that evening. So many relationships that had been built up over time got torn to shreds in the heat of the moment. I actually hung up my books for the next three months -- I just couldn't face going back to Barsoom. But Season Three starts up soon. I don't know that I'll ever top that finale episode but at least I can now face the idea of bringing these people back together.
ta da!
The scene: The ruins of Zuyang. The devastated city has been consumed by a sorcerous hurricane for the past century, and unending cyclone of not only wind and dust, but tortured souls who cry out for redemption and release, driving unfortunates who are caught within their domain mad with grief and frenzy.
At the center of this dust-choked and rubble-strewn maze, the First Sanctuary of the Blood Council is an eerie place of calm and green things growing. Here is where the last Blood Mother of the Council was murdered by the Demon Goddess, her soul fragmented and cast out into the world by the evil sorcerer Matai Shang. Since that day, the Blood Council has lost all direction and is prey to a thousand inimical forces, unable to fulfill its mission of bringing order and peace to the world.
Unless someone can restore the soul of the Blood Mother and allow her knowledge to pass on to her successor, the Blood Council and all Barsoom can never be brought out of the dark times.
Our heroes have gotten involved in this dire history over the past year. One of the PCs turns out to have a fragment of the Blood Mother's soul attached to his own (soul fragments unable to pass on, cling to living souls -- didn't know that, did you?). Matai Shang has discovered this and pursues them. Their only protector is the Demon Goddess herself -- a terrible vampire sorceress deity who's interest in the party is certainly less than 100% altruistic.
The Demon Goddess claims that she was under the domination of Matai Shang when she killed the Blood Mother, and now wishes to restore the woman's soul. The party must seek out and assemble all the soul fragments so that the Demon Goddess can then perform the ritual required to restore the Blood Mother. Members of the Blood Council, of course terrified of the Demon Goddess these days, must also be present in order to accept the knowledge and wisdom of their long-dead leader.
And Matai Shang has discovered some weakness of the Demon Goddess and will doubtless turn up to prevent the restoration from taking place.
One of the PCs has already died in the attempt to reach the Sanctuary, and it has been revealed that another has fallen desperately in love with the Demon Goddess. The group's loyalties and relationships are in a shambles, everyone is angry with everyone else and now comes the final showdown.
The Demon Goddess draws forth the soul fragments from the assembled folks who possessed them and performs the needed sorcery to reassemble them. The Blood Mother appears, smiling at her ancient foe/friend. She says she understands that the Demon Goddess acted under compulsion. She says she forgives her.
She says she's now going to destroy the Demon Goddess once and for all. Matai Shang appears as the Blood Mother's long-time ally. It turns out the WHOLE THING has been a plot to destroy the Demon Goddess, to get her to cast the spell that would tie her soul to that of the Blood Mother. Now the Blood Mother can attempt to take the Demon Goddess' soul with her across the Shadow Realms into the afterlife. Matai Shang is there in case the Demon Goddess doesn't want to go quietly.
And she doesn't, and the party get involved on BOTH sides and it is uglier than I could have imagined. Shang gets killed, the Demon Goddess becomes a mortal woman (and loses about 40 levels in the process), the entire Blood Council top drawer gets wiped out (by the party, mostly), huge spells and explosions and charging about and last-minute death-defying efforts on all sides.
It's hard to convey the emotional impact of it all. We were all just devastated at the end of that evening. So many relationships that had been built up over time got torn to shreds in the heat of the moment. I actually hung up my books for the next three months -- I just couldn't face going back to Barsoom. But Season Three starts up soon. I don't know that I'll ever top that finale episode but at least I can now face the idea of bringing these people back together.
ta da!
Furn_Darkside
First Post
barsoomcore said:
Wow! Good stuff, and good thing I was sitting down- I was beginning to get dizzy.
FD
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Furn_Darkside said:Wow! Good stuff, and good thing I was sitting down- I was beginning to get dizzy.
Yeah, my plots do tend to get a little convoluted. I blame Steven Brust.
Because I'm uncomfortable with admitting my own faults, that's why.
Furn_Darkside
First Post
barsoomcore said:
No! convoluted is good..as long as your players don't mind.
I would love to run that way, but my players have expressed their disintress.
FD
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
Last edited:
Dr Midnight
Explorer
We recently had two separate instances at our table wherein my character went toe-to-toe with another PC over an in-game issue. Once, it came to blows. The yelling match that went before that was some classic tense roleplaying. Very proud of that.
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Furn_Darkside said:
I had exactly the same problem. My players staged a bit of a "revolt" about a year and a half ago, complaining that my plots were too complicated and the challenges too hard and that they were always having to run away from stuff.
I handled it the way I handle all my players' concerns: "Who's DM?"
No, seriously, I did a little pleading. I told them I had a plan, that I knew what I was doing, and if they would just hang in there that they'd see things start coming together. They did, and there hasn't been another revolt since. I find that players will get engrossed in plots even if they say they don't want them.
Of course, I keep the head of the player who started the revolt on my bookshelf, so maybe that helps...
the Jester
Legend
Wow, a whole thread started by me and I didn't even know it!!
Thanks for the compliment, mseds99! For those that missed the other thread, I'll copy my heaviest ever rp experience over here...
The best romance in gaming story I have relates to Nerull. Back when I was running Greyhawk, before Tharizdun ate it (imc), there was an evil pc priest of Nerull (this was in 2e; I'd made individual specialty priests of all the gods around in my campaign at that point) and a good pc ranger who fell in love. After one of those earth-shattering adventures that pcs have where they were rewarded by the gods themselves ("ask for what you will" kind of thing), Egypt (the ranger) asked to bear Carrion's child (Carrion, natch, was the cleric of Nerull).
Well, her request was granted, but Carrion was deeply disturbed. After all, Nerull's creed is to end all life, and creating new life was the worst sin he could conceive of. So the two went on a honeymoon after getting married, far away from any of the rest of the group. One day Carrion walked up to her. "Egypt?"
"Yes?"
"I love you." With that he pulled out his scythe and attacked, trying to slay her. She fought back, not understanding why, until she was on the edge of death. Finally, Carrion threw down his wicked weapon and said flatly, "Kill me."
She was shocked, and in the end, when he told her it was him or her, and made it clear that there was _no way_ to avoid it, she slew him.
It was one of the most shocking bits of play I've ever been involved in. I'd never expected anything like it; I'd not set up any of the story's elements. The players made all the decisions, there was no fudging, and there was real emotional roleplaying going on there. I couldn't believe it; it isn't every day someone sacrifices their own favorite character. He could have renounced his god; he could have slain Egypt; but he chose to die.
Even now, prolly over 10 years later, I can't think of any game I've been in with role playing to match it, or with more of a romantic- and tragically doomed- feeling.
Star-crossed lovers, indeed.
So there you have it, the story that started this thread.
Thanks for the compliment, mseds99! For those that missed the other thread, I'll copy my heaviest ever rp experience over here...
The best romance in gaming story I have relates to Nerull. Back when I was running Greyhawk, before Tharizdun ate it (imc), there was an evil pc priest of Nerull (this was in 2e; I'd made individual specialty priests of all the gods around in my campaign at that point) and a good pc ranger who fell in love. After one of those earth-shattering adventures that pcs have where they were rewarded by the gods themselves ("ask for what you will" kind of thing), Egypt (the ranger) asked to bear Carrion's child (Carrion, natch, was the cleric of Nerull).
Well, her request was granted, but Carrion was deeply disturbed. After all, Nerull's creed is to end all life, and creating new life was the worst sin he could conceive of. So the two went on a honeymoon after getting married, far away from any of the rest of the group. One day Carrion walked up to her. "Egypt?"
"Yes?"
"I love you." With that he pulled out his scythe and attacked, trying to slay her. She fought back, not understanding why, until she was on the edge of death. Finally, Carrion threw down his wicked weapon and said flatly, "Kill me."
She was shocked, and in the end, when he told her it was him or her, and made it clear that there was _no way_ to avoid it, she slew him.
It was one of the most shocking bits of play I've ever been involved in. I'd never expected anything like it; I'd not set up any of the story's elements. The players made all the decisions, there was no fudging, and there was real emotional roleplaying going on there. I couldn't believe it; it isn't every day someone sacrifices their own favorite character. He could have renounced his god; he could have slain Egypt; but he chose to die.
Even now, prolly over 10 years later, I can't think of any game I've been in with role playing to match it, or with more of a romantic- and tragically doomed- feeling.
Star-crossed lovers, indeed.
So there you have it, the story that started this thread.
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